Reference the Catalog File in the .Inf file

You can use this procedure to configure a driver package .inf file to refer to a catalog file of your choice. You must include or modify this reference before creating the catalog file.

Note

If the driver package was previously signed by someone else, such as the device manufacturer, then a .cat file already exists, and you can use it without modification. Signing the catalog file with your certificate replaces the original signature with your own.

The installing computer reads the .inf file in the driver package to determine the name the .cat file containing the signature. So you must place a reference in the .inf file to specify the name of the .cat file. The Signability tool uses the .inf file to determine what name to give the .cat file it creates. It also reads the .inf file to determine the list of files that make up the device driver package. Signability calculates a hash for each file, and stores the hash in the .cat file. The hash is used by the receiving computer to verify that the files were not changed by anyone after the package was signed. The .inf file itself is included in this hash process, so you must make any changes to the .inf file before creating the .cat file with the hashes.

An .inf file can reference multiple catalog files in support of multiple processor architectures, such as x86, x64, or IA64-based computers. The procedure shown here uses the single catalog file example. For more information about supporting multiple catalog files, see Operating-System Versioning for Drivers in the WDK documentation at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=82259.